UK Autumn Budget – Gambling Taxes

The UK Government has confirmed it will go ahead and bring the remote gaming duty treatment of freeplays in line with the less generous treatment of free bets under general betting duty. This will take effect for accounting periods commencing on or after 1 August 2017 as previously announced. We expect to see the responses to HMRC’s consultation on freeplays and the draft legislation on 5th December 2016.

Use and enjoyment VAT charge for advertising services

There is still no news on whether the UK is going ahead to impose VAT, under an extension to the effective use and enjoyment rule, on B2B advertising and marketing (including affiliate marketing) services which are supplied to non-EU established businesses. The UK had announced it was intending to do this, once it had imposed VAT on insurance repair services carried out in the UK, which has been done. With Brexit preparations ongoing, the extension of the use and enjoyment rule to advertising services may now be on the back-burner.

Avoidance Disclosure Regime to include gambling duties

In a bid to strengthen the tax avoidance disclosure regimes for indirect taxes, the government intends to extend the scope of the VAT Avoidance Disclosure Regime to cover all indirect taxes, including gambling duties. Provisions will also be made to move the primary obligation to disclose avoidance schemes from users to promoters. These changes will have effect from 1 September 2017.